Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
I'm hearing from constituents that day home providers are unable to see the contracts that they are going to be expected to sign to take part in the new federal childcare agreement before they are expected to sign them. I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to whether or not this is accurate and if ECE is willing to ensure that all providers have the information they need to feel comfortable signing onto this childcare agreement, including see the contract before being expected to sign it? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, we would never expect anyone to sign a contract that they haven't seen.
There's been a number of meetings between ECE officials and childcare providers, whether that's day home or childcare centres, and there has been a number of documents provided to childcare providers, and those documents contain all of the information that is contained in the actual contribution agreement. It's a contribution agreement, not a contract. So I just wanted to clarify that as well because childcare providers can have contracts with parents, but they would have a contribution agreement with ECE. And if the information that is being provided, which is the same as what's in the contribution agreement, isn't sufficient, we're happy to show a template of the contribution agreement as well with the understanding that it wouldn't be filled in with the actual numbers as those are dependant upon the situation of that particular day home, and that's the whole point of the the work beforehand. So if that's a hurdle, it's not much of one because we're more than happy to share that information. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that commitment from the Minister.
My second question is that the cost of living has gone up everywhere, including the cost of fuel and food as of late. As such, some businesses are having to increase the cost of their services. And so I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to what are the rules around increasing the cost of childcare now that the average rates have been set in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in our agreement with the federal government, we've agreed to use the funding from them to reduce the cost of childcare by on average 50 percent. And we understand that the cost of childcare varies depending on what people are charging. There is a number built into the federal agreement which so we can handle a 2.3 percent increase and not have to take from any other pots of money. The timing is not great right now because as the Member mentioned, the price of everything is going up. We're seeing, you know, inflation like we haven't seen before. So what we are willing to do is work with childcare providers to ensure that if they're proposing an increase above that 2.3 percent, that it is something that is justifiable. And while I say that, I'll preface it by saying that most childcare providers are, you know, only putting forward increases that are justifiable. There have been some instances where we've seen, you know, increases of 20, 30 percent proposed for this month, even retroactive a month, and it's you know, it coincides with this new money that's flowing that's supposed to be flowing to parents. And so if we have a childcare provider increasing their rates by 30 percent when we're trying to reduce rates by 50 percent, that causes some problems because that will take money away from some of the other efforts that we need to put forth, such as increasing wages for early learning and childcare providers. So we want to ensure that parents are getting this money in their pocket, and we want to ensure that the childcare providers are not being unduly burdened. So we are providing them with additional funding because we understand there's additional reporting. And the 2.3 percent increase is seen as reasonable, and we you know, we believe that most operators are charging what they need to charge at any given time. And there are increases that businesses need to make along the way but when we're talking about 20, 30 percent increases, there are definitely some questions and we likely can't accommodate those types of increases, and we don't want parents to have to pay those increases as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, some people have been informed that the average for the cost of day homes or childcare in the Northwest Territories was determined using a zero dollar figure for providers who do not charge because of alternate federal funding contributions. I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to whether or not this is accurate and how the average cost of NWT childcare was reached? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so we are looking to reduce the cost of childcare by 50 percent on average. And so what that average is, is the average of all childcare providers who charge for childcare. So we do not factor in all of the hundreds of childcare spaces that are available free of cost, many provided by Indigenous governments in smaller communities. The average that we're looking to reduce by 50 percent is based only on childcare providers that actually charge money. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if a licensed day home chooses not to opt in to this new childcare agreement, if a parent can switch their child to a new licensed childcare provider and still receive the retroactive subsidy from their new childcare provider. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And no, the money that flows from the Government of Canada through the Government of the Northwest Territories through the childcare provider to the parent has to be flowed from the childcare provider who actually provided the services to the parent. So it can't be a different operator. If you've had your child in childcare for three months, from January, February, March with one provider, it has to be that provider who is flowing the funding to you. And we've had a lot of success. We have most people signed on to this, most providers. For some people, it's taking a bit longer. And, you know, I think we'll get there. There are some instances where perhaps information needs to be explained in different ways, but I'm confident that the vast majority of childcare providers will have signed on and that parents will be receiving these refunds. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
